Hog-house door



Jan. 1 1924 C. O. TORGERSON HG HOUSE DOR Filed Dec. 11. 1922 Patented Jan. 1, 1924.

ETEDVST Es PATENT HOGHOUSE noem Applicaton fil ed December 111922. Serial No 606,155.

Be it known that I, CARL O. TORGERSON, a citizen of the United States, and a resident of Slater,in the county ofiStory and State ofIowa, have invented a certain new and useful Hog-House D001, of which the following is a specification.

The object of my inventin is to provide a door of simple, durable and inexpensive construction, which may be easi1y applied to a door opening of a hog house or similar building, so constructed and arranged that when placed in position, the ani1nal may open the door and pass through it, either in 01 out, and when he has passed through the dooi, it will automatically close.

More specifically it is the object of my invention to provide a door frame havinga door arranged in the franiein such a manner that it wi1l rest normally ina closed position, and prvided with means w hereby the animal may open the door by engaging the said means with its nose.

These and other objcts will be apparen t0 these sk]led in the art.

Myinvention consists inthe co-nstruction,

arrangement and combination of the various pa rts of 'thedevice, whereby the objects contemplatedare attained, as hereinafter more 'u1ly set forth, pointed out in my claims, an d illustrated inthe accompanying drawings, in which:

F igure 1 is a side elevation of my improved doorand the framein which it is mounted.

F igu1e 2 is a side elevation of the same showing the front sides of the door frame removed.

F igu1e 3 shows a detail transverse, sectional view taken on the line 3"-3 of Figure1.

Figure1 showsan enlarged, detail, sectional view taken onthe 1ine 1 40f Figure 1.

F igure 5 isa detail bottom and segmntal view of the lower and adjacent ends of the doors when in a closed position.

Figure 6 is a detail, sectional view taken on the line 66 ofFigure1.

My improveddevice comprises a frame having a top member 10 and a bottommem be1 11 and sides 12. Each side of the frame is provided at its upper end witha board 13 which is secured to theframe members 10 and 12 bynails 14:, in such a manner that the said boar ils 13 are =spaced apart. The

enter fase of the lower=edgef each ofthe boards 13 is provided with a cleat15which is also secured in positiori by means of snit able nai1s. has each ofits side edges provided with a vertically arranged board 16. The upper ends of the boards 16 adjoin the lower edges of the boards 13 and are seeured to the cleats 15. The lower ends of the boards 16 are secured to the outer faces of the base members 11. The boards 16 are of a widthslightly Theopening 17 can be 0-fanydesired size to allow the animals t0 pass through it. The door for the opening 17 is formed 0 tw Each of the side 1118111b61812 upper pieces 21 and two lower pieces 22, of

a thickness slightly less than the thickness of the frame members 10 or less than the space between the boards 13, the width of the boards being sli'ghtly greater than half of the width of the opening 17 The upper and adjacent corners of the boards 21 are provided with a hinge23 mountedin the manner shown in F igure 2, theflpivot of the 0rdnary hinge being withdrawn and a longer one substituted, which is indicated by the numeral 24. The pin 24: is of sueh length that it will extend through the cleats 15 and the hingeportion. The Outer end of the pin 24 may be provided with a nut25 so that the said pin may be removed whenever it is de sired to remove the door. This willpermit the two halves of the hinget0- separate and the members 21 to be diseonnected. The members 21 are so mounted that the may be swung about the pivot 24: from t e p0- sition shownin Figure 1, to some such posi tion as shown in Figure 2.

It will be seen that the lower edge of each of the members 21, as illustrated in Figure 1, is provided with a horizontal portion and a downwardly and outwardly inclined edge portion 27. The top edge of each of t1e members 22 is provided with an inclined and.

horizontal portion to coact with the inclined and horizontal portions of the lower edges of the members 21. The adjacent and inner ends of the coacting edges are pivoted together by means of 21 hinge28 secured in position as illustrated in Figures 1 and 2.

The door members 22 are of such lerigthassist in cleaning the groove 19 of loese dirt and trash when the door members are n1oved from an open to a closed position.

The inner face of the left hand door member 22, as shovvn in Fignre 2, is provided with 21 iaterallyextending c1eat 30, whie the opposite face of the opposite door member 22 is provided with a lateraliy extending c1eat 31. These c1eats provide means fr c1osing the cracks between the adjacent edges of the door members 22 when in a csed position, and also provide means by which the animalisenabled to m0"e the door members to en open position.

Assuming that the door members are in a closed position as sh0wn in Figure 1, With the cleats 31 and 3.0" overlapping the adjacent edges of the door members 22 and that the 1ower edges of the door mcmbers 22 'are in groeve 19, said door members being m0ved t0 said closed positin by gravity, and that an animu1 wishes t0 pass through the door opening, he simply places his nose against the left hand edge of the c1eat 31 and moves it sideways toward the, right which causes the right hand door member 22 to be swung open a s1ight distance, and a crack will be formed between the two door membeis through which the animal vvil1 thrust his head and crowd between the door members causing them to be swung apart to a position shown in Figure 2. As soon' as he has pessed through, the door members wil1 again automatically close, and while they are bee1ed faces 29 of the door member 22 Wil1 engage u ny dirt 0r foreign matter that has collected in the groeve 19 and move it in- Wa rdly toward the center ofthe groove and then thrust it out throtigh the notch 20 of the c1ezit 18.

By forming the 10wer edges ofthe member 21 inclined and the upper edges of the mem ber 22 inclined t0 c0act therewi th, I have pro vided means wvherehy the do0rs 22 will be, to a certain extent, halanced in such L manner that the iower ends of the doors 22 will not swing inwardly too abruptly. This, I have found. won1d hinder the door from assuming a c10sed position. The amount of this bevel W111 have to be somewhat regu- 1ated according to the weight and dimensions of the doors, which is best deter1nined by actual experiment.

1ng moved to their closed Positions,the bevassembled at the factory ready for use, and

the device beirw comparatively thin, it may b e p ck ed and 5 ij5ijed in a minimum amount of spaceyand needs but litt1e crating. The door frame may then be mounted adjacent tqthe outer. and inner face of the frame of any door peing,bf one edge of the frame of my improved door ney 19e provided vth hinges and the entire frame moved to an open or closed position if se desired, es it is sometimes desirable te p1ac e the door frame in the lovver pqrtion of a -lerger (1001 opening, such as 2 large ba rn door.

It will be seen th&t cen siderable change may be made in the detail constructqi1 of my improved door vv ithout departing f rom the spirit of my invention.

I claim as my invention:

A or f me a we emb f0 eaeh side of said door frame, s aid wel1 members being spaced apart and e ch provided with door p d op ings he i PP site each other, a peil f upperdoor members secured together at the upper and adjacent corners by a single pivot, E L lovyer door member pivoted to the lower an d inner corner of each of said upper dogr memb ers arranged to move .t0 2jijclo sed positionloy gravity, a latera1ly extending clea t for the inner edge of each of said -lovver door mem bers, said door memhe s being mount ed betvveen the vva1l memberjs f s ai d frame.

2. A door frame having 2, dpo r opening, a pair of upper door'members f0r 2 il .PJ ng, mears f,or pivo.t ng t.h. upper zuid) jacent corners of seiddoor mernbers roge.th r so theii lovver ends may .be re.e 'o n from each other, e:10wer door memher pijv- 0ted to the upper inner corner fe1 iehpf said upper dor members a1 1d Ineens ,SQC 1IGC1 to one of the faces of each f said door members so arranged that the door members .mg 'y be movjed toaii open pj j sition by beir gengaged by an anima1s nose.

3. A door frame having a door/opening, a pair of upper dcorinembers I. said p ing, means for pivoting theupper and adjacent corners of said door members tpgether sotheir 10wer ends may. be f1 eetq sWing from each other, a 1w er d0.r membefi pijvoted to the lower inner corner of eachpf the inner edge of each of sai d lbWer door members designed to' 10e ngagd by an anima1s nose so that one of the doormenibers 4. 11 door fraLme hwrig inner and enter,

ed With a door opening, the lower edge of the said door opening being provided wth cleats to form a groove, one of said cleats having at its central portion a notch, door members mounted between the said wa11 me1nbers hzwing their inner and adjacent edges arranged vertically and centrally between the sdes of sad openings, the upper ends of the adjacent edges of said door members being piv0ted, each of the adjacent edges of said door members being provided with an outwardly extending cleat and their lower corners provided with a beveled portion, the doors being of such length that their lower ends Wi1l travel in the groove formeel by the upwardly extending cleats When the door is in a closed position.

5. A door frame having a door opening, a pair of upper door members for said openng, means for pivotng the upper and adjacent corners of said door members S0 that their adjacent edges Will rest together, and

so that their lower ends may be free to swing fro-1n each other, the 1ower edges of each of said door members being inc]ined downwardly and outwardly when said door members are in a closed position, a lower door member pivoted to the lower inner corner of each of said upper door memoers, said lower door members being provided. with upwardly and inwardly inclined edges to fit adjecent -1:0 the edges of said upper door porton a communcating notch of the same depth as the said groove, the door opening being provided with door members pivoted to swing toward and. from each other, and to have ther 10wer edges mounted in said groove, the said door members and said groove being S0 arranged that as the door members are swung toward each other to assume a closed positor1, that any dirt or foreign substances collecting in sad groove Will be dischrge'd through the communicating notch.

Des Moines, Iowa, December 4, 1922.

CARL O. TORGERSON. 

